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Trends in financial market concentration and their implications for market stability

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Abstract

The link between financial market concentration and stability is a topic of great interest to policymakers and other market participants. Are concentrated markets - those where a relatively small number of firms hold large market shares - inherently more prone to disruption? This article considers that question by drawing on academic studies as well as introducing new analysis. Like other researchers, the authors find an ambiguous relationship between concentration and instability when a large firm in a concentrated market fails. In a complementary review of concentration trends across a number of specific markets, the authors document that most U.S. wholesale credit and capital markets are only moderately concentrated, and that concentration trends are mixed - rising in some markets and falling in others. The article also identifies market characteristics that might lead to greater, or less, concern about the consequences of a large firm's exit. It argues that the ease of substitution by other firms in concentrated markets is a critical factor supporting market resiliency.

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  • Nicola Cetorelli & Beverly Hirtle & Donald P. Morgan & Stavros Peristiani & João A. C. Santos, 2007. "Trends in financial market concentration and their implications for market stability," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 13(Mar), pages 33-51.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednep:y:2007:i:mar:p:33-51:n:v.13no.1
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mr. Lev Ratnovski, 2013. "Competition Policy for Modern Banks," IMF Working Papers 2013/126, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Elyas Elyasiani & Elena Kalotychou & Sotiris Staikouras & Gang Zhao, 2015. "Return and Volatility Spillover among Banks and Insurers: Evidence from Pre-Crisis and Crisis Periods," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 21-52, August.
    4. Daniel Stefan ARMEANU & Sorin-Iulian CIOACA & Mihail BUSU, 2015. "Analyzing The Market Concentration Of The Romanian Capital Market," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 548-554, November.
    5. Mr. Damien Capelle, 2021. "Competition vs. Stability: Oligopolistic Banking System with Run Risk," IMF Working Papers 2021/102, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Glode, Vincent & Opp, Christian C. & Sverchkov, Ruslan, 2022. "To pool or not to pool? Security design in OTC markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 508-526.
    7. Uhde, André & Heimeshoff, Ulrich, 2009. "Consolidation in banking and financial stability in Europe: Empirical evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1299-1311, July.
    8. Hankir, Yassin & Rauch, Christian & Umber, Marc P., 2011. "Bank M&A: A market power story?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2341-2354, September.
    9. Claudio Agostini & Eduardo Saavedra & Manuel Willington, 2012. "Economies of Scale and Merger Efficiencies: Empirical Evidence from the Chilean Pension Funds Market," Working Papers wp_027, Adolfo Ibáñez University, School of Government.
    10. Cantero-Saiz, María & Polizzi, Salvatore & Scannella, Enzo, 2024. "ESG and asset quality in the banking industry: The moderating role of financial performance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Shijaku, Gerti, 2016. "Does concentration matter for bank stability - evidence from Albanian Banking System," MPRA Paper 79086, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Calice, Pietro & Leonida, Leone & Muzzupappa, Eleonora, 2021. "Concentration-stability vs concentration-fragility. New cross-country evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Begoña Torre Olmo & María Cantero Saiz & Sergio Sanfilippo Azofra, 2021. "Sustainable Banking, Market Power, and Efficiency: Effects on Banks’ Profitability and Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-24, January.
    14. Jordan Kjosevski & Mihail Petkovski, 2017. "Determinants of Bank Profitability in the Republic of Macedonia – a Panel Data Analysis," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 41-65.
    15. Zeeshan, Mohammad, 2024. "Financial market volatility: Does banking concentration play a role?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Crimmel, Jeremy & Elyasiani, Elyas, 2021. "The association between financial market volatility and banking market structure," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 335-349.
    17. Sergio SANFILIPPO AZOFRA & Maria CANTERO SAIZ & Begona TORRE OLMO & Carlos LOPEZ GUTIERREZ, 2013. "Financial Crises, Concentration and Efficiency: Effects on Performance and Risk of Banks," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 63(6), pages 537-558, December.
    18. Samuel Tabot Enow, 2023. "Detecting the Herding Behaviour in the South African Stock Market and its Implications," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(2), pages 88-92, March.
    19. Vega Baquero, Juan David & Santolino, Miguel, 2022. "Too big to fail? An analysis of the Colombian banking system through compositional data," Latin American Journal of Central Banking (previously Monetaria), Elsevier, vol. 3(2).
    20. Steven Campbell & Qien Song & Ting-Kam Leonard Wong, 2024. "Macroscopic properties of equity markets: stylized facts and portfolio performance," Papers 2409.10859, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2025.
    21. Huang, Yan & Wan, Jiansong & Huang, Xin, 2019. "Quantitative analysis of financial system fragility based on manifold curvature," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 1276-1285.

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